USS ''Tahoma'' was a built by order of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for service during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. ''Tahoma'' was used by the Union Navy as a

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

in support of the Union Navy blockade of

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

waterways.

Commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard

''Tahoma''—a wooden-hulled, 4th rate screw gunboat constructed during 1861 at

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, by W. and A. Thatcher—was launched on 2 October 1861; and commissioned at the

Philadelphia Navy Yard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the cit ...

on 20 December 1861,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

John C. Howell in command.

Civil War operations

Assigned to the East Gulf Blockade

Assigned to the

East Gulf Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederate States of America, Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required ...

, ''Tahoma'' remained with this force for her entire career through the Civil War. On 26 April 1862, while patrolling east of Sea Horse Key,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, the screw gunboat chased a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

until the quarry ran aground where she was destroyed. Two months later, ''Tahoma'' raided St. Marks, Florida, burned a barracks and destroyed a battery of cannon before heading out to sea, unscathed.

Blockade runner ''Uncle Mose'' carelessly approaches Tahoma

While patrolling off the Yucatan Peninsula on 7 July, ''Tahoma'' captured the blockade-running schooner ''Uncle Mose'', which had sailed unawares up to where the gunboat had anchored. Comdr. Howell later reported that the Confederate captain was astonished "at finding a man-of-war where we were anchored." The prize was laden with 115 bales of badly needed cotton.

Sending ashore a landing party on Sea Horse Key

After patrol duty in the late summer and early fall, ''Tahoma'' helped to destroy three important Confederate

salt works A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The Salt pans are shallow and large of size because it will be easier for sunlight to travel and reach the sea water. Natural s ...

. On the morning of 6 October, ''Tahoma'', and ''Somerset'' lay to off Sea Horse Key and sent ashore a landing party of 111 men in eight boats. A pre-landing bombardment of shell,

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, and canister fired from the

howitzers A howitzer () is a long-ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like oth ...

mounted in two of the boats scattered some 20 to 30 armed Confederate

guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...

. The sailors quickly landed and deployed to cover the boats. Working parties destroyed 28 boilers and burned all buildings in the vicinity. As Howell subsequently reported:

the expedition was entirely successful ... no confusion was exhibited on landing ... no useless expenditure of ammunition, and no one hurt.

Capturing seven blockade runners

While operating along the Florida coast during the first six months of 1863, ''Tahoma'' captured seven

blockade runners A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...

: the cotton-laden

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Silas Henry'' at

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

on 8 January; British schooner ''Margaret'' off

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

, on 1 February; the

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

''Stonewall'' off

Pea Creek The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

(now called the Peace River) on 22 February; schooner ''Crazy Jane'', carrying a cargo of cotton and

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...

, near Gadsden's Point on 5 May; cotton-carrying schooner ''Statesman'' in

on 6 June; the British blockade-running schooner ''Harrietton'' off

Anclote Key Anclote Key is an island off the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida, the largest island in the Anclote Keys, located at near Tarpon Springs. Its name originates from the Spanish term for "anchor." The island is accessible only by boat and is ...

s on 18 June; and ''Mary Jane'', destroyed on the same day at

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

. Also during this period, ''Tahoma'' engaged a Confederate shore battery at Gadsden's Point on 2 April.

Attacking and destroying vital Confederate salt works

''Tahoma'' and ''Adela'' landed an expeditionary force at

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, on 17 October 1863 and burned the steamer ''Scottish Chief'' as well as the sloop ''Kate Dale''. Operating out of

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

, from January 1864, ''Tahoma'' launched two daring raids against Confederate

in February of that year. On the morning of 17 February, a landing force went ashore in two detachments and marched seven miles inland to destroy salt works at St. Marks, Florida. Ten days later, another force went ashore to destroy an even more distant station near Goose Creek. On the latter occasion, the landing party eluded Confederate cavalry and brought off a dozen prisoners, including a captain from an infantry company. Before their destruction, these two salt works had produced some 2,500 bushels of salt—important not only for preserving food but also for making

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

Recommissioned for post-war operations

In the summer, the gunboat steamed north for repairs and was placed out of commission at the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...

on 23 July 1864. After the completion of her overhaul, the ship was recommissioned on 13 April 1865 and operated off the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard ...

until decommissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, on 27 July of the same year. The ship again served on active duty, this time with the Gulf Squadron, from the fall of 1866 into the summer of 1867.

Post-war decommissioning and sale

''Tahoma'' was decommissioned for the last time on 27 August 1867. The ship was later sold on 7 October that same year at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahoma Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in Wilmington, Delaware Steamships of the United States Navy Unadilla-class gunboats American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States